Category Archives: Around the world

The ever-expanding Mexican abortion option

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating stuff. One last-minute round-trip flight from Biloxi, Mississippi, to Cancún, Mexico, runs about $171 USD; three nights at a three-star hotel there can cost as little as $129. A three-day car rental in the resort town rings in at … Continue reading →

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Houston suspends “sister city” ties with Tyumen

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. Houston Mayor Turner Sylvester on Friday suspended the city’s partnership agreement with Moscow and its sister city relationship with Tyumen, Russia, on the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. Turner said that while he believes in the … Continue reading →

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Egg smuggling

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We live in strange times. As the price of eggs continues to rise, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are reporting a spike in people attempting to bring eggs into the country illegally from Mexico, where prices are lower. The jump in … Continue reading →

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Houston leads the way in resettling Afghan refugees

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Nicely done. The sudden crush of thousands of Afghans who arrived in Houston last fall forced local refugee resettlement agencies to drastically expand services in a matter of weeks. Houston’s role as the top destination for evacuated Afghans stressed these agencies, which had diminished in … Continue reading →

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Acompañamiento

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Great story about the abortion access community in Mexico, which arose while abortion was criminalized there and continues now that it is legal in much of the country, and how it is starting to help women in the US, especially … Continue reading →

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From Harvey to Ukraine

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good story. The former Marines from Houston had no idea what to expect what then they finally arrived at the Polish-Ukrainian border. What the members of the CrowdSource Rescue team found was “a heart-wrenching mess” — a miles-long caravan of … Continue reading →

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Pity the poor lion hunters

Posted on September 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Gag me. Houston was once the nation’s top destination for African lions killed by U.S. trophy hunters, but public backlash and new federal restrictions have all but ended the sport, according to a group of big game hunters that has … Continue reading →

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Get ready to fly to Cuba

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

You’ll be able to get there from Houston in a few months. A new weekly flight from Bush Intercontinental Airport to Havana was announced Thursday as part of the government’s historic effort to unwind more than 50 years of political … Continue reading →

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Don’t know much about international relations

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Sheesh. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday continued his campaign against the controversial Iran nuclear deal, urging fellow governors nationwide to ignore President Obama’s suggestion to lift economic sanctions. In a two-page letter, issued after he met in Dallas with … Continue reading →

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John Bradley does John Bradley things

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Grits for Breakfast: Former Williamson County District Attorney and Texas Forensic Science Commission Chairman John Bradley – who left Texas to become Attorney General of the island nation of Palau after facing national disapprobation, losing reelection, and struggling to … Continue reading →

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On Texas and refugees

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott does not speak for Texas. Tens of thousands of immigrants have come to Texas to escape persecution or political violence, and Texans have often offered their hearts, lands and money to the dispossessed. What has changed that makes … Continue reading →

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Ireland votes to approve same sex marriage

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

As the old song goes, when Irish eyes are smiling, all the world seems bright and gay. Irish voters have resoundingly backed amending the constitution to legalize gay marriage, leaders on both sides of the Irish referendum declared Saturday after … Continue reading →

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Flying to Cuba

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

You can get there from Houston, or at least you will be able to soon. United Airlines made it clear Thursday it intends to offer regular commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba, saying it would look to offer service … Continue reading →

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Krampuslauf

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Now this is what I call going old school for Christmas. Long before parents relied on the powers of Santa Claus to monitor their children’s behavior, their counterparts in Alpine villages called on a shaggy-furred, horned creature with a fistful … Continue reading →

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I’ll see you in C-U-B-A

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Among the many likely winners of the new US policy towards Cuba will be the city of Houston. As an established travel gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, Houston is positioned to benefit from any potential easing of tourism … Continue reading →

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Feral hogs cross the border

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

You can’t stop them, and hoping to contain them is not looking so likely, too. If nothing else, the voracious wild hogs that years ago destroyed the lucrative melon and cantaloupe harvests in this isolated border city — and are … Continue reading →

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Shark Week in the Gulf

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

You got your goblin sharks. Shrimpers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico have pulled up an incredibly rare, almost prehistoric looking goblin shark. It’s only the second sighting of such a beast in the Gulf. The freakish shark is one … Continue reading →

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Saving the T Rex skeleton

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

How cool is this? Little did Houston attorney Robert Painter know that his decade-old friendship with the president of Mongolia would lead to unraveling an archaeological mystery worthy of Indiana Jones. In a story that reads like a Hollywood script, … Continue reading →

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The case for keeping the penny

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Canadian penny is about to become a collector’s item. They clutter your dresser and cost too much to make. They’re a nuisance and have outlived their purpose. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was talking about the Canadian penny and why … Continue reading →

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The “Crazy College of Qatar”

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As you may know, Houston Community College opened a satellite campus in Doha, Qatar, a couple of years ago. Apparently there have been a few bumps in the road along the way. The dean chosen by the Qatari government was … Continue reading →

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To help Haiti

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I received the following email from the American Red Cross: I’ve got a brief update for you on Haiti. The situation is dire. Hundreds of thousands of people are feared dead. Government offices, including the Presidential Palace, have collapsed. Hospitals … Continue reading →

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Mr. Goldberg goes to Iraq

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Former Houston City Council Member Mark Goldberg has a new gig. [Goldberg] will work as a local governance adviser for RTI International, a North Carolina nonprofit research and development organization that works in Iraq and other countries. RTI employs 79 … Continue reading →

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Now that’s a prank

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’d never heard of this before, but it’s very cool. t was probably the most ingenious student prank of all time. In June 1958, Cambridge awoke to see a car perched at the apex of an inaccessible rooftop, looking as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Good times in Ireland are bad times for the pubs

Posted on May 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Behold the dark side of prosperity. As recently as the 1980s, young people had to leave Ireland to find work and millionaires were as rare as hen’s teeth, as the Irish say. But by 2005, according to the Bank of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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RIP, Dith Pran

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Dith Pran, the Cambodian journalist on whose life the movie “The Killing Fields” was based, has died of cancer at the age of 65. Dith was working as an interpreter and assistant for [New York Times reporter Sydney] Schanberg in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The “doomsday seed vault”

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Is it just me, or does anyone else get a wee bit edgy when sci-fi plotlines become news? A doomsday seed vault on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean opened Tuesday, creating a bank of more than 100 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Irish bag tax

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve talked about recycling and voluntary reduction as a way of dealing with the plastic bag problem. Here’s another approach, taken by Ireland, which has been very successful. There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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No thank you for not smoking

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Now that’s what I call a backlash. The owner of a small German computer company has fired three non-smoking workers because they were threatening to disturb the peace after they requested a smoke-free environment. The manager of the 10-person IT … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The bridge protest

Posted on November 15, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

As you may know, I’m a tournament bridge player, though not as frequent a player as I once was, thanks to other obligations. I can honestly say that in nearly 20 years of playing at tournaments, I have very little … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Prosecute or not?

Posted on July 24, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The Humane Society is applying pressure to the Justice Department in an effort to get them to prosecute Dan Duncan. Duncan testified before a grand jury in Houston last week about the hunting trip in which he killed a moose … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Call it something else, please

Posted on July 21, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not a hunter. Compared to me, even Mitt Romney looks like Daniel Boone. I have nothing against hunting, it’s just not my idea of a good time. But I can at least understand the allure, on some level, of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Le Wi-Fi, oui oui

Posted on December 17, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

Add the city of Paris to the municipal Wi-Fi revolution. If Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has his way, free wireless Internet soon will be in public places throughout the city – including the cafe haunts on the Left Bank where … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Question of the day

Posted on September 23, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

So am I a big ol’ sap for admitting that reading this choked me up, or do I get a pass for being the father of a little girl? Help me out here. Continue reading →

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RIP, Steve Irwin

Posted on September 4, 2006 by Charles Kuffner

Steve Irwin, the famed Crocodile Hunter, died with his boots on over the weekend. Irwin died doing what he loved best, getting too close to one of the dangerous animals he dedicated his life to protecting with an irrepressible, effervescent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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